Archive for the ‘Claire Watts’ Category

QVC will be back in Cali this weekend for the second year in a row to ride the red-carpet coattails of the Oscars.

Claiming that it got “impressive viewership” with its first such broadcast, “Buzz on the Red Carpet – Live from LA” will, or so the press release says, QVC “once again take viewers behind-the-scenes with exclusive content from top fashion designers, beauty newsmakers, celebrities and more.”

There will be two live broadcasts, this Friday at 9 p.m. (ET) and Saturday at 8 p.m. (ET).

During the shindig at the Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills, “Gossip Girl” actress Kelly Rutherford will finally debut her luxury handbag line during the Saturday broadcast.

“Much like New York during Fashion Week, there is no place like Los Angeles during awards season,” QVC U.S. CEO Claire Watts said in a canned statement. “’The Buzz’ on the Red Carpet broadcast aims to offer engaging programming that takes our viewers where they want to go. With our lineup of personalities and industry experts, we feel confident that this season will be full of excitement for our customers.”

Fashion designers including Isaac Mizrahi, Dennis Basso and Marc Bouwer are scheduled to appear during the broadcasts along with Lori Goldstein, the Kardashians and Melania Trump.

Actor Matthew McConaughy’s girlfriend (and mother of his child) Camila Alves and costume designer Janie Bryant, of “Mad Men,” will also present their latest collections. They will join some of the best in the beauty business including Kate Somerville, Josie Maran, Laura Geller, Smashbox and Tarte, among others, will be on hand.

QVC.com will host a special online preview of the event now through Friday.

QVC’s PR department finally got back to us Thursday about “Gossip Girl” Kelly Rutherford’s new handbag line for the No. 1 home shopping network.

QVC said that Rutherford will be launching a line of handbags for QVC during its “The Buzz on the Red Carpet – Live from L.A.” programming Feb. 25. But there was no additional information available, according to the network.

We also finally got a photo of Claire Watts, who was just promoted to the new position of president of QVC U.S. Here she is.

It was news to us, but “Gossip Girl” actress Kelly Rutherford is doing a handbag line for QVC, joining the army of celebrities selling products on home shopping networks.

At least that’s what we learned over our morning coffee Thursday when we opened up the Daily News and saw a photo of Rutherford on the gossip page, appropriately enough. The shot showed Rutherford, in jeans and winter coat, walking on a snowy Manhattan street.

The caption said that Rutherford was heading to “The Wendy Williams Show” to “hawk” her new QVC handbag line.

We did not see the show yesterday, but “The Wendy Williams Show” website had a blurb that said “‘Gossip Girl’ star Kelly Rutherford tells us about all the drama going down this season and shows off her new purse line on QVC. Be there.”

Sorry we weren’t there.

Anyway, Rutherford do not look very dolled up in the Daily News photo, and apparently she didn’t stop by into hair-and-makeup before going on-air to chat with Williams. Rutherford’s hair was in a messy bun, she didn’t appear to have makeup on and she was dressed in a raggy cardigan and jeans.

One viewer, Shanelle, complained about Rutherford’s apperance on the show’s website.

“u liked kelly’s look but i hated it. i found it a little rude. she looked like she just woke up and rolled out of bed and came to your show. she couldve fixed herself up a little bit. i thought her look was tired and cheap looking. and she had the nerve to push her handbag line?? she clearly does not know fashion and i wont be purchasing her bags. bottom line, as a woman, she should know better than to go on tv like that. period.”

We’d have to agree with Shanelle on that one.

Williams, a fellow Montclair, N.J., resident, also got Rutherford to dish about her nasty divorce and custody battle.

We have a call into QVC’s crack PR department to find out more about Rutherford’s line. But we’re holding our breath. We’re still waiting for the photo of the new chief of QVC’s domestic network, Claire Watts, that we requested yesterday.

Its website, QVC.com, enjoyed its biggest traffic day in its 14-year history, attracting 2 million sessions from more than 1.4 million unique visitors, QVC said Tuesday. That broke last year’s Cyber Monday record of more than 1 million unique visitors.

On average QVC.com generates roughly a third of QVC’s orders, however on Cyber Monday it accounted for nearly half of QVC’s total U.S. sales for the day.

Cyber Monday offered the largest selection of Event Prices during QVC’s The Joy of Giving Week. Shoppers enjoyed an additional benefit – free shipping on over 5,000 items, including select items in every show and the Today’s Special Value with no minimum purchase required.

“Every day, QVC.com delivers a rich, multimedia shopping experience unlike any other on the Web, and this year’s Cyber Monday really showcased that,” ever-quotable Claire Watts, QVC’s president of U.S. Commerce, said in a canned statement.

“With a terrific selection of unique products from trusted brands, offered at honest values and backed by QVC’s top-rated customer service, QVC.com has become a holiday shopping destination for millions of smart shoppers,” she said. “We’re thrilled with the overwhelming response we received from our customers, and will continue to strive to make their holidays a little less crazy, and a little more joyful.”

Cyber Monday followed QVC’s biggest Black Friday ever, ringing up more than $42 million in sales. The special event featured the season’s best deals on select, new gifts and While Supplies Last prices on limited-quantity, in-demand items. QVC.com offered additional specially priced products and featured online countdown offers in every hour.

In fact, the news was so good that the home shopping network’s PR department worked this weekend, putting out a press release on the more than $42 million in Black Friday sales, the most ever in the channel’s 24-year history.

“Customers embraced all of the joy, none of the craziness with record results,” QVC crowed in its announcement.

The festivities kicked off Thanksgiving night, and continued on to Friday.

“Customers were invited to begin their holiday shopping not long after the Thanksgiving turkey was put away with QVC’s The New Black Friday,” QVC said. “The special programming event featured the season’s best deals on select, new gifts and While Supplies Last prices on limited-quantity, in-demand items. QVC.com offered additional specially priced products and featured online countdown offers in every hour.”

The always-quoted Claire Watts, QVC president of U.S. Commerce, added her canned quote to the release.

“After last year’s record-setting Black Friday, our merchandising team was determined to fulfill our customers’ gift-giving needs with another superior product mix,” she said. “Our customer response can only mean that we exceeded their expectations and delivered on our promise to provide all of the joy, none of the craziness. We will continue to offer an outstanding shopping experience throughout the holiday season and every day.”

QVC is already crowing that it expects another great day Cyber Monday.

Last year QVC.com attracted record traffic with more than 1 million unique visitors.

“On one of the busiest online shopping days of the year, we are welcoming new and returning customers with great gifts, at amazing values,” Claire Watts, QVC’s president of U.S. Commerce, said in a canned statement.

“For the past several years, traffic to QVC.com on Cyber Monday has grown at an extraordinary rate. We look forward to continuing this trend by providing not only an outstanding product mix, but also our signature customer service.”

QVC noted that it will offer free shipping on more than 5,000 products, including select items in every show and the Today’s Special Value with no minimum purchase required.

Those wacky scallywags at QVC Wednesday promised that their upcoming Black Friday will have “all of the deals, none of the craziness.” Do tell.

It seems that we can look forward to the return of QVC’s New Black Friday.

“This 28-hour event will allow customers to enjoy amazing deals without enduring the craziness associated with traditional Black Friday shopping. The savings kick off not long after the turkey is packed away, enticing customers to get a head start on holiday shopping,” the No. 1 home shopping network said in a press release.

The fun starts Thanksgiving evening at 8 p.m. and goes on that Friday at 11:59 p.m.

“Last year we observed our largest Black Friday ever, confirming that our customers welcomed the chance to escape the mayhem of long lines, traffic headaches and chaotic crowds,” Claire Watts, QVC’s president of U.S. Commerce, said in a canned statement. “This year, we’re again providing special gift ideas at exceptional values, while allowing our customers to shop with ease.”

From what we gather, QVC will be launching its Black Friday Today’s Special Value at 8 p.m. Thanksgiving eve, instead of midnight.

The savings continue at QVC.com, with additional, specially priced products and featured online countdown offers in every hour. Shoppers will also have the opportunity to preview the weekend’s Today’s Special Value offers.

QVC put out a press release Tuesday crowing about its Fashion Week programming.

We were actually impressed with QVC’s efforts, from its pop-up shop in Rock Center to its “reporters” roving all over the city.

Here is QVC’s spin:

QVC CELEBRATES RECORD-SETTING NEW YORK FASHION WEEK

WEST CHESTER, Pa. (September 21, 2010) – QVC celebrated its largest New York Fashion Week presence with live programming from its first NYC pop-up location in Rockefeller Center featuring a consumer shop and broadcast studio.

Designed to offer consumers the ultimate QVC shopping experience, the pop-up store showcased a selection of QVC’s most exciting brands. From September 10 – 15, products ranging from fashion, beauty and jewelry to home and electronics were featured and the store served as a location for personal appearances by a selection of QVC’s favorite personalities and brands. The store also enabled shoppers to play with QVC’s latest interactive shopping platforms, from its smartphone and iPad apps to desktop and TV widgets.

The QVC pop-up store opened its doors to the public on Friday, September 10 at 6 PM (ET) to mark the second annual Fashion’s Night Out (FNO). QVC’s President and CEO Mike George and President of U.S. Commerce, Claire Watts were joined by Isaac Mizrahi and Kristin Chenoweth for the pop-up shop’s ribbon-cutting celebration. Just minutes before, Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour visited to sign copies of the September issue with Saturday Night Live’s Seth Meyers.

Even QVC CEO Mike George popped up for the network's programming from Rock Center

As the exclusive multimedia retailer for FNO, QVC made the event accessible to more than 98 million U.S. homes with its largest ever broadcast and multimedia event. Live from the NYC pop-up location with special programming throughout the city, the broadcast – Fashion Night’s Out SM – Live from Rockefeller Center – featured the successful debuts of K-DASH by Kardashian and Janie Bryant MOD. Some of QVC’s most popular designers unveiled their latest collections for the fall ’10 season.

“We were thrilled to bring Fashion’s Night Out to our customers live from NYC,” said Watts. “Our viewers really responded to the unique insider experience we were able to provide.”

Customers were invited to “Keep on Shopping” with Isaac Mizrahi immediately following the FNO broadcast at 12 AM (ET). Live from his New York studio, Mizrahi introduced his Today’s Special Value® (an item offered at an exceptionally low price – good for that given day, until 11:59 PM (ET), unless it sells out sooner). The ISAACMIZRAHILIVE!™ quilted lamb leather jacket sold out with only 45 minutes of presentation time. QVC aired two additional live remotes from Mizrahi’s studio at 2 PM (ET) and 6 PM (ET) featuring new fall items from his lifestyle brand.

In addition to the successful FNO and ISAACMIZRAHILIVE! broadcasts, QVC also gave viewers a front row seat at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week with Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week – Live from Rockefeller Center on Saturday, September 11 at 10 PM (ET) and Wednesday, September 15 at 10 PM (ET). Live from the NYC pop-up location, QVC kicked off the September 11 show with its first-ever eight-minute runway show. Fashions featured on the runway were then presented during the broadcast, including Anonymity by Julie Chaiken and new designs from some of QVC’s premier designers, including Lori Goldstein, Dennis Basso, Isaac Mizrahi, Bradley Bayou, Marc Bouwer and Janie Bryant.

Iconic Hollywood stylist Rachel Zoe also returned to unveil her latest collection and debut her first faux fur Today’s Special Value® on Wednesday, September 15. QVC posted a sellout with more than 25,000 units ordered. In addition to the Today’s Special Value offer, several other items from Zoe’s collection sold out, including a faux fur toggle coat with wingcollar, feather print scarf with twistedfringe, wrap shawl with fringeand patch pocket vest with sequin trim.

“Our Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week broadcast continues to resonate with our viewers,” Watts adds. “Once again, we were able to deliver accessible fashions from esteemed and emerging designers, direct from the industry’s most respected event.”

Once again, QVC lent its support to the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) in its fight against breast cancer. QVC offered Vogue-designed Fashion’s Night Out CFDA T-shirts on air, on QVC.com and at its pop-up location in New York City. During the September 10 broadcast, Vogue’s Sr. Market Editor, Meredith Melling Burke, appeared on QVC to talk about the Vogue-designed T-shirt. Since its debut, more than 4,000 have been ordered. Net proceeds from the sale of this T-shirt, sold exclusively through QVC, benefitted “Fashion Targets Breast Cancer,” the charitable initiative of the CFDA Foundation, Inc.

The Kardashians' K-Dash collection will debut on QVC during Fashion Week

As we’ve previously reported, QVC is really expanding its participation and presence at New York Fashion Week. The home shopping channel put out a press release on the event Tuesday, and it is kicking off the week by debuting its Manhattan pop-up location — as well as launching a clothing line by the Kardashians.

We wrote about the pop-up store and K-Dash, too, when QVC CEO Mike George mentioned them during a second-quarter conference call. The pop-up location will be in Rockefeller Center, and it will serve as a consumer store and a fully functioning broadcast studio.

QVC’s growing role in Fashion Week reflects its growing clout in the fashion industry, as it attracts high-profile designers who have been struggling in a market where most consumers are keeping their wallets shut.

The QVC pop-up store will open its doors to the public this Friday at 6 p.m. to mark the second annual Fashion’s Night Out, or FNO, event. QVC celebrates FNO as the exclusive multimedia retailer.

QVC claims it will have one of its largest broadcast and multimedia events live from the Big Apple pop-up location with special programming throughout the city.

The three-hour broadcast – Fashion Night’s Out SM – Live from New York is scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. and feature the debuts of K-DASH by Kardashian and “Mad Men” costumer designer Janie Bryant’s MOD collection. In addition, some of QVC’s popular designers, including Marc Bouwer, Bradley Bayou, Pamela Dennis, Lori Goldstein, Mara Hoffman, Melania Trump and Isaac Mizrahi, will unveil their latest collections for the fall season.

As part of FNO, QVC is once again lending its support to the Council of Fashion Designers of America in its fight against breast cancer. QVC will offer the Vogue-designed Fashion’s Night Out CFDA T-shirts on-air, on QVC.com and at its pop-up location in New York City.

On Friday Vogue’s senior market editor Meredith Melling Burke is scheduled to appear on QVC to talk about the Vogue-designed T-shirt. Net proceeds from the sale of this T-shirt, sold exclusively through QVC, will benefit “Fashion Targets Breast Cancer,” the charitable initiative of the CFDA Foundation.

“We are thrilled to be celebrating Fashion’s Night Out,” QVC president of U.S. Commerce Claire Watts said in a canned statement. “The expansion of our presence in New York to include the pop-up location as well as offer access to such an impressive event is something we expect our viewers will respond to with equal excitement.”

The pop-up store is also scheduled to be open to the public Sept. 11 to 15. The store will showcase a selection of QVC’s most exciting brands. Products ranging from fashion, beauty and jewelry to home and electronics are scheduled to be featured. Additionally, the store will serve as a location for personal appearances by QVC personalities and brands.

In addition to the unveiling of its pop-up location, QVC will be returning to Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week to present Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week – Live from New York, scheduled for Saturday at 10 p.m. and next Wednesday at 10 p.m.

During the shows, which will be broadcast live from the NYC pop-up location, QVC is scheduled to debut Anonymity by Julie Chaiken as well as showcase new designs from editorial stylist Lori Goldstein and some of its premier designers, including Dennis Basso, Isaac Mizrahi, Bradley Bayou, Marc Bouwer and Janie Bryant. Iconic Hollywood stylist Rachel Zoe is also scheduled to return to unveil her latest collection.

“Our collaboration with IMG Fashion has proven to be more rewarding each year, affording us the opportunity to take our viewers inside Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week,” Watts adds. “We are confident that presenting a variety of esteemed brands during such a widely supported event reinforces QVC’s place in the fashion industry.”

Following the kickoff on Friday, the QVC pop-up store is scheduled to be open to the public Saturday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Sunday from noon to 7 p.m.; Monday and Tuesday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.; and next Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Last week we saw a very witty promo that Ellen DeGeneres did for QVC, where she tongue-in-cheek mentioned network staples like Joan Rivers’ iconic bee pins. DeGeneres sells her HALO pet food on QVC, and was telling viewers she would be back with her line this Thusday.

In the on-air promo, DeGeneres says says become obsessed with QVC.

“I can’t stop,” she says. “If you could only see the Diamonique ankle bracelet I’m wearing.”

DeGeneres ends the spot pretending to be on the phone with QVC, saying, “I’d like to order the Joan Rivers bee pin and a set of pans.”

Monday QVC put a press release on the blonde comedian’s return to QVC to unveil the latest additions to her holistic pet care collection. The 12-time Emmy Award winner and “ardent animal lover,” as QVC calls her, is scheduled to appear live from the set of “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” in Los Angeles at 9 p.m. to hawk products from her HALO, Purely for Pets line.

As in her promo, DeGeneres good-naturedly mocked QVC in her press release statements, too.

“I’m so happy to return to QVC for a couple of reasons,” DeGeneres said. “For one, I want as many people as possible to know about the health benefits of feeding their animals HALO. Secondly, there is a Joan Rivers turquoise necklace that I have my eye on and I’m hoping they’ll give me the employee discount.”

DeGeneres’s natural line includes a variety of food choices, supplements and treats for dogs and cats, as well as a stain and odor remover kit, with prices ranging from $20 to $40. “Each product was created with the belief that good nutrition is the single most important factor in a holistic approach to wellness,” the press release says.

“We are thrilled to welcome Ellen back to QVC,” Claire Watts, QVC’s president of U.S. Commerce, said in a canned statement. “Her unique line of wholesome products has really resonated with our customers, who clearly want to provide a healthy lifestyle for their pets.”

HALO, Purely for Pets products are made with natural ingredients, including butcher-quality chicken, eggs, carrots, flaxseed, green peas, barley, sweet potatoes and cranberries, to provide pet owners with wholesome, healthy products to enhance the overall wellness of their pets.